LSU holds off late rally to beat UL-Monroe 61-54

Published: Saturday, December 14, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, December 14, 2013 at 11:02 p.m.

BATON ROUGE — LSU looked like a team that had been off for nearly two weeks in its game against Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.

However, there was one player who seemed not to miss a beat. Jordan Mickey scored a season-high 25 points as the Tigers knocked off the Warhawks 61-54.

Mickey, who was 9-of-13 from the field, also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked five shots. The remaining LSU players made just 14 field goals combined. Only one other LSU player had more than six points, and just one other Tigers player had more than five rebounds.

“I just wanted to be able to come in and play my role,” Mickey said. “I wasn’t trying to come in and be the leading scorer in the game. I just wanted to help my team win. We knew we wouldn’t be as sharp as we had been. But, we know we have to come out and play hard every night.”

Stringer was the only other LSU player to score in double figures as he had ten points. Shavon Coleman was second to Mickey in rebounds with six. Johnny O’Bryant, who was averaging a double-double on the season, finished with just four points and five rebounds.

“Our guys did a good job of coming out and getting after it in the second half,” LSU coach Johnny Jones said. “We had some lapses after getting up by 18 points. We didn’t do a great job of closing out the game, but it was a good win for us.”

Marvin Williams was the leading scorer for the Warhawks (3-2) with 14 points. Tylor Ongwae added 12 points, while Amos Olatayo had 11 UL-Monroe shot just 36 percent (20-of-56) from the field. The Warhawks’ 54 points were a season-low.

After giving up an early eight-point lead, LSU (6-2) used an 8-0 run to take a 31-26 advantage into halftime. Two 3-pointers by Stringer and three field goals by Mickey propelled the Tigers to a 12-4 lead.

UL-Monroe battled back and went ahead 22-20 on a 3-pointer by Daniel Grieves with seven minutes remaining in the first half. LSU then answered with four consecutive baskets in less than two minutes. Malik Morgan made two field goals, while Johnny O’Bryant and Mickey each had one.

Only three points were scored during the last 4½ minutes before halftime - a field goal by the Warhawks’ Kyle Koszuta and a free throw by Mickey. UL-Monroe scored four points in the last seven minutes, while the Tigers had one point in the last 4½ minutes.

LSU quickly took control of the game in the second half. The Tigers outscored the Warhawks 15-4 in the first five minutes after halftime. Mickey had two field goals and a pair of foul shots, while Jarell Martin knocked down a 3-pointer. A basket by Stringer capped the run, which put LSU on top 46-30.

“We did some good things against a very talented basketball team for certain minutes of the game,” UL-Monroe coach Keith Richard said. “The first five minutes of the second half weren’t very good. To have a chance to win on the road, you can’t come out of halftime and have that kind of lapse.”

UL-Monroe, which trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half, held the Tigers scoreless over the last 4½ minutes. The Warhawks scored the final 11 points of the game to shave their deficit to seven points.

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